Oil well packer



Jan. 26, 1932. w GLHBERSON 1,842,780

OIL WELL PACKER Filed NOV 8, 1928 "V I!IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII VV/I/IQ T) E. Gwbemon I Patented Jan. 26, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM R. GUIBERSON, 0]? LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE GUIBERSON CORPORATION, 01? DALLAS, TEXAS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE OIL WELL PACKER Application filed November 8, 1928.

This invention relates to an oil well packer and particularly to a construction associated with gripping slips and adapted to pack-off a well above the slips and intermediate the tubing and the casing.

In the use of the ordinary compression packings the adherence to the casing wall often causes them to be torn from the tubing and 10st in the well, and even when they remain on the tubing a material resistance to the withdrawal thereof results because the frictional pressure of the packing is not effectively decreased. Further in the use of an extended packing block when once compressed there is not sufficient resiliency to completely restore the block after the weight of the tubing is relieved when raising the packing for removal.

To avoid such objections and provide a more efiicient construction, I. utilize means for expanding the packing into contact with the casing, which means will be held againstupward movement when the packing is lifted with the tubing. This arrangement automatically withdraws the packing from contact with the casing and facilitates free withdrawal of the tubing without frictional resistance from the packing or theloss thereof, while the expanding means will be held in contact with the slips.

I also present a very simple construction in which the expanders for both the slips and packing are carried by a movable member, and this member is held in position to engage the slips when released and also to contact with the packing carried b the tubing when the weight of the string 0 tubing is applied to the packer. I have further devised an insleeve slidably mounted on the tubing andyieldably held in its lowermost position. This sleeve is provided at its upper end with a double cone, the lower face-of which expands the slips when released in the usual manner,

Serial No. 317,897.

and the upper face expands the packer as the sleeve is held by the grip of the slips.

The invention has for an object to provide a novel and improved construction in which a sleeve is slidably mounted upon the tubing and formed with a plurality of expander -faces, together with a cage having gripping slips movable upon the sleeve to engage one of said faces, and a packing carried by the tubing and disposed to be expanded by another of said faces.

A further object of the invention is to present a new structure of expander having opposite inclined faces, the lower one thereof being disposed to expand the casing gripping slips, and the upper face arranged to enter and expand a packing cup.

Another object of the invention is to provide an expander sleeve slidably mounted upon the casing and provided with a double cone, means for yieldably holding said sleeve in its lowermost position, gripping slips movable upon the sleeve to engage one cone, and a cup-shaped packer secured to the tubing to engage the upper cone.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a cup-shaped packer adapted to be secured to the tubing and to be expanded by an inclined member supported by the gripping contact of the slips with the casing.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter set forth and the novel features thereof defined by the showing the slips latched for iptroduction into a well,

Fig. 2 is aside elevation with the slips released and in gripping position,

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a detail section at the lower coupling.

Like numerals refer to like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

The numeral 10 designates the usual well casing through which a string of tubing ex tends, and the section 11 of such tubing carries the packer and slip units. This section is provided at the top with a coupling 12 threaded thereon and at the bottom with a similar coupling 13. A sleeve ltis slidably mounted upon the tubing section 11 and has a collar 14 on its lower end which normally rests on the coupling 13, as shown in Fig. 4. The cage 15 carrying the gripping slips 16 is movably mounted upon the sleeve and has the usual guide springs 17 and latching hook 18 which engages the pin 19 carried by the sleeve. Since this latch is released by a rotative movement of the tubing the sleeve is connected to its supporting section by a slide key 20 carried thereby and working in a keyway 20 in the collar 14, so as to shift the pin from the hook when the slips are released.

At the upper end of the sleeve 14 adouble cone 21 is secured, for instance by threading thereon, and has a lower inclined face 22 cooperating with the slips 16 to expand the same and an upper face 23 which fits within a depending packing cup 24. This cup is preferably formed of rubber or similar composition and has a nipple 25 molded therein upon which the retaining thimble 26 is mounted.

The thimble is held in engagement with the upper coupling 12 by supporting the nipple upon a collar 27 secured upon the section 11. For the purpose of relieving the pressure of the cone face 23 on the flange 30 of the packer cup, a spring 28 is disposed between the collar 27 and the base of a recess 29 in the cone 21. When the weight of the string of tubing is applied for setting the packer after the slips have engaged the casing to hold the cone, this spring is compressed and the packing cup expanded by the upper face of the cone. When the tubing is withdrawn from the well the cup is carried upward therewith and the spring acts, by its expansion, to hold the cone member down in the sli s 16 and thus positively separate the cone rom the cup so that the contacting flange of the cup is free to retract or collapse from engagement with the casing. This avoids any frictional resistance from the packing in the withdrawing operation and prevents separation of the packing from the tubing and its loss in the well.

The operation of the invention will be obvious from the foregoing description, but it may be noted that the rotative movement of the tubing necessary to unlatch the slips is transmitted to the sleeve which is yieldingly held against upward movement only, and in its "lowermost position by the tension spring so that the under cone face immediately acts to expand and retain the slips in gripping engagement with the casing and this supports the cone against further downward travel so that the continued downward movement of the string of tubing expands the cup over 7 the upper face of the cone.

The invention presents a very simple and prevent damage and loss of the packing member and also to relieve the expanding pressure thereon in the withdrawal of the tubing, The invention also provides a unit cone structure with its slip cage mounted upon the sleeve thereof so that the cone may cooperate with both the slips and packer cup. Means are also provided for the automatic freeing of the internal expander for this cup when the tubing is being withdrawn.

lNhile the specific construction of the several parts has been shown and described, the invention is not confined thereto, as changes and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as recited in the following claims.

What I claim, is:

1. In an oil well packer, a tubing, a sleeve movably mounted thereon and provided with a plurality of inclined expander faces, a cage provided with casing gripping slips movable upon the sleeve to engage one of said inclined faces with the slips, and a packing carried by the tubing and disposed to be expanded by the other inclined face.

2. In an oil Well packer, a tubing, a sleeve movably mounted thereon and provided with a plurality of inclined expander faces, a cage provided with casing gripping slips movable upon the sleeve to engage one of said inclined faces with the slips, a packing carried by the tubing and disposed to be expanded by the other inclined face, and tension means for withdrawing the sleeve face to relieve pressure on the packing.

3. In an oil well packer, a tubing, a sleeve movablymounted thereon and provided with a plurality of inclined expander faces, a cage provided with casing gripping slips movable upon the sleeve to engage one of said inv clined faces with the slips, a packing carried by the tubing and dis osed to be expanded by the other inclined ace, and a connection between the tubing and the sleeve to impart rotative movement to the latter.

4:. In an oil well packer, a tubing section, a sleeve slidable thereon and provided at its upper end with a plurality of oppositely inclined faces, a cage slidable upon the sleeve and having gripping slips disposed to engage one of said inclined faces, and a packing secured to the tubing and positioned to engage another of said faces.

5. In an oil well packer, a tubing section,

a sleeve slidable thereon and provided at itsupper end with a plurality of oppositely inclined faces, a cage slidable upon the sleeve and having gripping slips disposed to engage one of said faces, a packing secured to the tubing and positioned to engage another of said faces, and means for yieldably retaining the sleeve face against movement in one direction.

6. In an oil well packer, a tubing section,

eflicient construction particularly designed to a sleeve slidable thereon, gripping slips movthe tu in beneath said cup, and a spring interposed tween said cup and cone.

8. In an oil well packer, a tubing section having couplings at its opposite ends, a sleeve mounted upon the tubing to rest upon'the lower coupling, a slip cage slidable upon the sleeve and detachably latched thereto, oppositely disposed expander cones carried at the upper end of said sleeve, and a depending packing cup secured to the tubing above the upper cone.

9. In an oil well acker, a tubing section having couplings at its opposite ends, a sleeve slidably mounted upon the tubing to rest upon the lower coupling, a sli cage slidable upon the sleeve and detacha ly latched thereto, oppositely disposed expander cones carried at the upper end of said sleeve, a de nding packing cup secured to the tubing a ve the upper cone, and a spring within said cup arranged to tension the sleeve downwardly.

10. In an oil well packer, a tubing section having couplings at its opposite ends, a sleeve slidably mounted upon the tubing to rest upon the lower coupling, a sli cage slidable upon the sleeve and detacha ly latched thereto, oppositely disposed expander cones carried at the upper end of said sleeve, a depending packing cup secured to the tubing above the upper cone, means for separating the packing and upper cone, and means connecting the tubing and sleeve to impart rotative movement to the latter.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILLIAM R. GUIBERSON. 

